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Well, that was not the best start to season. Michigan State left a lot to be envied in Mel Tucker’s debut. Getting blown out by Rutgers by a score of 38-27. Neither side of the ball was able to string anything together. Rutgers was by and far the superior team today.
Michigan State snapped a 21-game home opener winning streak, while Rutgers was able to snap a 21-game Big Ten losing streak.
Robert Bondy covered the first half, which was dominated by Rutgers. Rutgers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and never looked back in the first half as they took a 28-13 lead into halftime.
It looked like this game might be over after Jordan Simmons, a true freshman, fumbled on the first drive of the second half. But, the Spartans still had a little fight left in them it seemed.
Perhaps the turning point of the game was after a punt from Bryce Baringer. During the return from Aron Cruickshank, Chase Kline was able to get down field and head butt into the football and force the fumble that was recovered by Antjuan Simmons. The next play, Rocky Lombardi was able to find Jalen Nailor along the sidelines who was able to take it all the way for a 30-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-20.
The next drive, the Spartans continued to show their defensive prowess as Drew Beesley was able to get around the outside and force a strip sack fumble that was recovered by Naquan Jones.
But then, the Spartans went for it on 4th down and failed, bringing down their 4th down conversion to 1 for 3. They were in field goal range and had a chance to cut down the lead to five, but elected to go for it.
From there, Rutgers took control and never looked back. Rutgers drove down the field and was able to kick a field goal to extend the lead to 31-20 early in the 4th quarter. Then they were able to capitalize on a muffed punt by Nailor, and throw for a 14-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 38-20.
Lombardi drove down the field and was able to find Jayden Reed for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:53 left in the fourth. But a failed onside kick attempt, effectively ended the game with the final score being 38-27.
Lombardi — who got the start over Theo Day and Payton Thorne — finished with 319 passing yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions on 31-of-44 pass attempts. He also had two fumbles.
Connor Heyward, surprisingly, started the game over Elijah Collins and finished with 18 rushing yards on seven carries and 25 receiving yards. Collins struggled today and ended the day with 3 rushing yards nine carries while Jordan Simmons had 43 rushing yards on 14 carries. Simmons also had a fumble.
The receiving corps was led by Reed and Nailor who finished the game with 128 and 84 receiving yards respectively. Reed had two touchdowns while Nailor had one. Each of them had a fumble.
Antjuan Simmons was the heart of defense and lead the team in tackles and had a fumble recovery.
Matt Coghlin had a solid day kicking the ball and went 2/2 with a 45-yarder and 48-yarder.
Michigan State turned over the ball a whopping 7 times! The turnover margin was -4, in what was an abysmal start to the season. Michigan State will have a lot to look over in practice before, perhaps, the biggest game of the season next week.
MSU’s next game is against Michigan on Halloween at Noon, while Rutgers is at home against Indiana on Halloween at 3:30 EST.
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